rangina said that she fears that it will only bring darker days for the land that her father loved and died for. ... ♪ good morning to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i am morgan radford live in new york city. and here are the stories we are following for you right now. live images from just one of the clashes in ukraine right now. kiev's attempt to push out pro-russian protesters may have taken a deadly toll. >> plus, syria's government and rebel forces blaming each other for poisonous gas attacks. >> i could hear the screams of the people who were burning alive. >> a survivor of the deadly california bus crash talks about the horrifying sounds he will

never forget. >> i am andrew thomas on why pacific island nations are looking to australia's king islands for how they can be powered entirely by renewable energy. ukraine's interior minister announces government forces are launched what he calls an anti-terrorist organization, targeting pro-russian militants who ceased a police station. they say one securities officer has been killed and five others wounded. people who live there are being warned to stay indoors and to stay away from their windows. this is the situation in the southeastern part of ukraine. these are live pictures of hundreds of ukrainians gathered in front of local administration buildings, and they are trying to protect it from a possible

takeover by the russian -- pro-russian supporters. on saturday, a group of armed men seized the police station and that was following a shoot-out. al jazeera's ab dull is about 100 miles from the russian border >> reporter: if there was indeed an anti-tear operation as the interior ministered posted on his facebook one, it's a discrete one as there is no apparent sign of it here underground, the building that the gunman has seized yesterday. there is no sign of them on the street. the building is barricaded, but the men manning those barricades are unarmed and wearing -- holding plastic shields and wearing helmets. now, in front of that building, there is a few hundred protesters, sympathizers of those gunmen. it may be that the interior ministry is certainly in a very difficult place. it needs to show that this is in control.

it's nearly two months now that it's in power and certainly, yesterday, when several police buildings were taken over by these gunmen in several tongues here in eastern ukraine, there was probably a fear that there was a replay of crecrimea, the that were called at the time unidentified gunmen. this is not crimea. we are in mainland ukraine. i think if the majority of the ukrainians have understood that the government was unable to do something in crimea, the situation is very much different here, and it needs to show that at some point, it will become -- it will be in control of the mainland. there is also another issue here also feared that mostly police stations are being targeted, mainly buildings where there are weapons inside. there is deep distress towards

the police here from the pro-russian camp. it's distress that stems from the fact that the police and army here take their orders from kiev. and as we know, the pro-russian camp looks at the government in kiev as illegitimate. >> in terms of the u.s. response, vice president joe biden is heading to ukraine later on this week. secretary of state john kerry says there will be consequences if the russians don't stand down. u.n. ambassador samantha power says there is no question that russian agents are behind the rebate attacks in eastern ukraine. >> it has all of the tell-tale signs. it's professionalal, coordinated. no, sir gratsroots. the cities that they have been active in, exactly the same thing. certainly, it bears the tell-tale signs of moscow's involvement. >> barrels full of chemicals have been dropped on three provinces across syria including

the out skirt damascus. points the finger at a group linked to al-qaeda while the opposition says it's the work of the government. the use of chemical weapons sparked outrage from president obama and world leaders. this time around, it seems the international community has fallen silent. al jazeera's ashima al bara has the later. >> this is the aftermath of the attack in aleppo. people are searching for survivors under the rubble. the government has intensified air raids across the country. rebels say this cylinder is all that's left of a barrel bomb that exploded in the town of quazata. activists say the bombs were filled with toxic chemicals. these videos are said to show victims of the sfak being taken to fieldbeinattacks being taken to field hospitals. >> they were targeted and the gases were all over the place.

we went to the scene. there were dozens of people who were affected. they were almost suffocated. most of them were elder people, women and children. two cases were severely affected, and they died. >> the syrian opposition is demanding an international investigation, but the government blames the attack on a group affiliated with al-qaeda. quazata is a rebel stronghold in hammut province. it has been bombarded by the army, push to go recapture areas such as this. but the rebels hold out. >> this military commander explains why the fighting is important. tranin >> translator: our aim is to cut off the supply root and prevent any army reinforcement from reaching the area. >> rebel attacks are expanding north in itleb.

there, helicopter crews drop food and weapons to soldiers besieged for months in a military base near the city. recent gains by the opposition, aleppo now allows the rebels to send in more weapons and fighters as fighting escalates in the coast of province of latakia. al jazeera. in afghanistan, it's a tight race in the presidential elections where preliminary results point to a run-off in may. ex foreign minister abdullah abdullah has almost 42% of afghan stanz' vote while the ex finance minister holds almost 38%. more results next week. this is the first democratic transfer of power in the country as hammut karzi steps down after 12 years as president. in california, the ntsb is investigating a report that the fed ex truck that slammed into a bus full of college-bound

teenagers was on fire before the accident actually happened. the truck clipped a nissan car and now the couple driving that nissan says the truck was already in flames. the couple survived but five teenagers, three chaperones and the driven of the bus and the truck died. one survivor disputes that the fed ex truck was on fire and said it was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> all i could see was fire, and i could hear the screams of the people who were burning alive and i could hear the boom of the bus when it exploded. >> miles hill has been reliving thursday's bus crash every single moment since it happened. he says it could have been prevented and retraces its steps over and over in his head. our bus was late. it was an hour late. we were supposed to leave at 6:30, all of the buses were supposed to leave at 6:30. >> miles said the bus had been involved in a smaller accident earlier. >>, too, slowed them down. >> that really hadn't happened,

the really bad accident wouldn't have happened. miles said he saw it all from right behind the driver's seat. >> he had time to move out of the way but he was in shock just as i was, and that prevented him from moving the wheel. >> but that shock, he says, doesn't change what he saw. he says reports that the truck was already on fire before it hit the bus are simply wrong. >> it was in perfect condition. it exploded upon impact on the bus. it was not on fire at all. >> but amidst the chaos, miles says he will never forget watching his new friends and new chaperones in their final moment? >> i watched him on fire before i kicked out the window and then there were two, michael and madeline, they were engaged. they died on impact and i saw that happen. >> boston is preparing for this year's marathon, and when it, a somber anniversary. tuesday marks one year since explosions at the finish lines killed three people and injured 260 others. city officers released detailed

public safety plans for this year's race, which is a week from tomorrow. there will be several changes, and among them, more than 100 security cameras all along the route. the new safety plan also includes a bigger police presence for the anniversary events and an improved emergency communications system. a few weeks back, we brought you the story of the church of wells. it's an evangelical congregation set up in a small town in east texas but people who live there call it a cult. in recent weeks they have clashed with members in an effort to get them out. al jazeera's heidi jo castro has their story. >> reporter: >> reporter: who are the church of wells? the group of 100, some fundamentalist christians own homes and businesses in this small east texas community. they raise chickens and homeschool their children. they live behind covered windows and closed doors. and as captured in this cell phone video, they tell people they are going to hell. the wells home coming parade a

week ago turned violent. several men attacked church members as they preached to the gathering which included jeffrey brotherton's four-year-old daughter. >> her and several other children that are unmentioned are traumatized from it. they are having nightmares. they are not wanting to, you know, go out and play anymore. >> reporter: two churchmez were treated for injuries but did not press charges. >> i forgive them, and i love them. and i have nothing but love in my heart for them truly. >> 28-year-old sean morris, 25-year-old jacob gardner and 29-year-old ryan wingwold are the church's so-called elders. they say they are willing to be martyred for their beliefs. >> one of our main objectsives is showing people how they deserve to die and they need to die and it will happen at the second death or it can happen right now by the grace of god in christ. >> i understand your message is some would say filled with damnation and even hat red. you are appreciating that god

hates sinners. >> that's a message that adults may be able to think about but why target children. >> you have to understand, heidi, there was little children in the crowds that, you know, the prophets, the apostles of every generation of which they preach to, there was children in the crowds. >> while the church of wells may strive to live the lifestyle of biblical times, the present day towns people of wells people say enough is enough. they staged this protest saturday. >> are you judging all of these people in wells because they are not like y'all? answer yes or no. >> answer "yes" or "no"? yes or no? >> in a way, this meet something what the church of wells has always wanted, a conversation with the town. but not every church member here was wanting to talk. >> katherine, do you still love your family? do you love your parents? 27-year-old katherine grove is a church member. her parents have tried to reunite with her since last year. they accuse church leaders of brainwashing their daughter.

>> it's not about me. i am dead. christ lives inside me. you want to talk to katherine, she's dead. >> the church of wells says all of its members are free to leave when they wish, but that the group, itself, won't leave wells until god tells them to. heidi jo cast row, al jazeera, wells, texas. >> christians are celebrating the beginning of holy week with palm sunday services. the vatican, thousands of catholics filled saint peter's square celebrating the mats of pope francis. scripture marks palm sunday as a day jesus was welcomed into jerusalem a week before he was persecuted and crucified. the next seven days are the holiest 69 christian calendar. palm sunday is being observed in jerusalem where the pilgrims retraced the steps believed to be the steps jesus made. they make their way to st. ann's

church. >> ahead, another earthquake rocks the south passiffic and how an island is becoming the prototype for clean energy. you are watching al jazeera america.

pass nasa a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands triggering a tsunami alert that was cancelled. there were no reports of damage. the solomon islands sit on the so-called ring of fire, an area prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. speaking of the weather, there is some potentially dangerous weather closer to home today. our meteorologist ebony dion joins us with the latest. >> morgan, we have been woching a few storms prompted warnings. we are still watching very active watching active weather in the middle of the country. the back of the big storm system, that is snow. we are expecting to see more of

that mainly across the mountenous areas of the west. but in advance of the system, it severe weather will threaten mainly across the southern planes and that much colder air moving in behind it. excuse me. we will be dealing with snowy conditions and mainly for higher elevations and that's where we could end up with on with a foot poor more of snow. the air is mild. we are watching out for the threat of severe storms anywhere from parts of the midwest all the way down into texas and that does include dallas and points northward into the st. louis area at least as we go into the afternoon and evening. now, a little bit further south is mainly rain, but just off to the west of dallas, starting to see a few storms with lightning strikes. now, no severe warnings in place as we speak, but we will have to watch this area, especially for later in the day because that threat is going to shift a little further south, moving into louisiana and eventually into mississippi, so we will continue to watch this area for

the threat, mainly of heavy rein, ice laterlated tornados and damaging wind. in addition to that, the area will be turning much colder and so we do have freeze watches in place here across northern areas of texas, on into oklahoma, mainly for monday night going in to early tuesday morning. but in addition to that, hard freeze warnings in place around amarillo because it because /* early as tonight temperatures would be in the 20s. we will see the colder air on the move. eventually pressing off to the eastern u.s. monday and into tuesday, where today, we have temperatures all the way into the 70s and low 80s. so big cooldown coming in once we get through it with strong forms but today and monday, we are keeping it warm, tuesday well above average, expecting low 80s in dc this afternoon. >> thank you, eboni. a united nations panel for climate change is calling global warning a critical problem and urging governments to act fast. the government on climate change

says countries must reduce fossil fuels and doing it by 2050 being a challenge t shifting to wind and solar injury will cost bill you don't know each and every year. >> power prototype, a wind farm down under could actually set that standard for how power is generated in remote communities all across the globe. al jazeera's andrew thomas has that story. >> it's hardly a metroplution, king island between the man land and tadz mania has more cows than people but it's becoming a prototype for how islands the world over could be powered. traditionally, small communities rely on diesel generators, king island did. but they are now -- there are now times the island is powered by renewable injury, meeting the needs of twlou customers and industri

industrial. >> so far we have run the island off of 7 and a half hours for the total island. total about 150 hours. >> i roncally, renewable energy targets have been met by keeping diesel in the mix while deliberately wasting power. >> the traditional power with wind power is that it's unreliable. not enough, and the lights can go out. but too much can be just as bad. al surge can trip the system. >> the breakthrough is combining two innovations, a responsive generator that fires up and burns diesel when the power generated by the wind and the sun drops below demand and a resistor which taps off excess power when over performing renewables threaten to over women the system. >> what we achieve is evening out the variability in those sources. the combination of both

technologies is what makes this a winner. this screen shows the power mix coming in and the output demand is pulling out. here, wind power generation would cover demands but it's topp topped-off anyway in case a big customer turns on a big switch. the resist or pulls out the current excess and can drain still more if the windmills turn much faster. the big hope is that the technology here can be rolled out to other small islands and communities dependent on diesel. across the pacific, there is fluctuating sun and wind harnessing it reliable could transform islands there more than this one. andrew thomas, king island, australia. >> a check on the morning's top stories just ahead. plus we will introduce you to some of the people who are risking it all, all for a chance at life in america.

good morning to you. welcome back to al jazeera america. i am morgan radford, and here are today's headlines. ukraine's interior minister announced that government forces have launched what he called an anti-terrorist operation. >> that's against pro-russian militants who seized a police stati station. one security officer has been killed and five others wounded when people who lived there are being warned to stay indoors and away from windows.

three provinces hild well chemical filled barely bombs. damascus and a branch of al-qaeda. the assad regime is supposed to get rid of all of its chemical weapons by june. >> illegal crossings along the southwest border have increased dramatically. the new york sometimes says the border mat trol made nearly 91,000 arrests in the rio grande valley and that was over the past six months, 69% more than the year before. recently, there has been a string of shootings all involving those border patrol agents and al jazeera's paul beban is on the ground in nogales, a town straddling arizona and mexico. >> a dusty cross and faded plastic flowers mark the spot where a boy named hojose rodrigz died gunned down in his hometown

of nogales, mexico. this is a story after boy, a boarder and a wall of silence. shortly before 1.130 p.m., he died instantly when he was hit by a bullet in the back of the head. as he fell face down, 8 more shots hit him in the back. at least one border patrol agent fired from somewhere around here on top of this cliff in arizona through the fence down into the street, down into mexico. >> why? border pat tro says he was throwing rocks at him. one witness says he was walking down the street. even if he was throwing rocks, was shooting him an appropriate response? was he really a threat to armed agents up on the cliff behind the fence? jose's grandmother is an american citizens. she lives on the arizona site of the fence in nogales, a few

minutes away from where her grandson was killed. at a bedside shrine, she praiys >> translator: there needs to be justice because it seems to me a cold-blooded, calculated crime. to me, it's a crime with no justification because he wasn't doing anything. he was just walking. he wasn't doing anything. almost a year and a half after the fatal shooting, the border patrol has at last formally responded to his family. this is the claim of his mother. >> the family's american attorney shoulder me a letter he received dated march 14th. your client's claim could not be attributed to a wrongful or nect act or omission on the part of the united states customs and border protection and it's over

as far as they are concerned. >> monteo says the border patrol took four minutes from the time of the shoot to go make this call to mexican authorities. >> let's listen to that call. >> border patrol. monteil says the delay suggests indifference to the fact a mexican boy had been shot. >> if they are really worried were somebody being hurt, you don't wait four minutes because obviously, the shooting had stopped. >> jose antonio's mother said the letter from the border patrol is an outrage. i think they are mad. they are wrong. how could they not it be to blame? it was an assassination. at no point did my son shoot at them. he didn't have a weapon. for me, it was a murder. i think a murder needs to be paid for. justice has to be dealt with. people can't go around killing people and have impunity. >> setting aside the unanswered questions of the case, border

patrol agent did do face assaults with rocks. this memo went out to agents just a week before the letter to jose antonio's family. it says agents have been attacked with rocks more than 1700 times since 2010. 43 times, they poresponded with deadly force, killing 10 people. no border patrol agent has ever been killed by a rock. the memo instructs agents to take cover and not shoot unless they are in imminent danger of death or serious injury. with all of this in mind, the question remains: is shooting ever an appropriate response to rocks? despite letter to his family, the department of justice and the f.b.i. are investigating. local border patrol agents wouldn't talk about the case or use of force policies. >> people feel like they are stonewalling. there is a lack of information, a lack of transparence. how does that afternoon the job? >> it doesn't really affect it too much because we don't have

any control over the investigation. i explain that to people but once that investigation is pending, we are out of it, you know like i said, we cooperate fully with the investigative agency but as far as giving information to the public, we can't do that. >> whatever images at a time cameras caught that night haven't been released. show me the video where my sonthrows rocks. with that, they didn't do the right thing. i want to see the video. i want to see where my son hurts them. it's a pain inside me that will be there until there is justice, until i know who killed my son and i know he has been judged. only then will i be able to think that all americans are border patrol agents aren't bad guys. >> on the mexican border, nogales. >> al jazeera america will debut a new original series called "borderland.

it tlakz six diverse americans retracing the footsteps of three migrants who died while trying to cross into the united states. thanks for watching al jazeera. um morgan radford. "listening post" is up next. hello. you are at the listening post. india goals to the polls in an election that will be a 6-week media marathon. the gavel-to-gavel media coverage of the pistorius trial in south africa. pro-russian protesters target